FILIPINO PIPE & FOUNDRY CORP. v.
NLRC, NLU-TUCP, Lerum collectively in good faith, to participate fully and promptly in the conciliation meetings
1999|Purisima
FACTS:
National Labor Union-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (NLU-TUCP),
a national federation of labor unions, filed with the then Ministry of Labor and
Employment, in behalf of its local chapter, the Filipino Pipe Workers Union-National
Labor Union (FPWU-NLU) a notice of strike signed by its national president, Atty.
Eulogio R. Lerum, against P, Filipino Pipe and Foundry Corporation, alleging union
busting and non-implementation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The initial conciliation conference was set on Feb. 24, 1986 but due
to lack of notice to P, as well as failure of FPWU-NLU to provide it a copy of the notice
of strike, the conference was re-set to March 3.
 Without waiting for the outcome of the conference however, on the
same day the Union staged a strike which lasted 3 months
 A return to work agreement was reached in Jun. 13, 1986
P: filed a petition to declare the strike illegal with prayer for damages against FPWU-
NLU, NLU-TUCP and its national president, Att. Lerum. It later moved for partial
dismissal of the complaint vs. FPWU-NLU but maintained action vs. NLU-TUCP and
Atty. Lerum.
LA: ruled in favor of P—illegal, P1.6M damages
NLRC affirmed.
Petition for Certiorari under Rule 65 to SC.
ISSUE: (1) W/N the strike was illegal - YES, (2) W/N NLU-TUCP is responsible for
damages as the principal – NO
Rule XXII, Book V, of the Rules Implementing the Labor Code, provides:
Section 1. Grounds for strike and lockout. A strike or lockout may be declared in
cases of bargaining deadlocks and unfair labor practices. Violations of collective
bargaining agreements, except flagrant and/or malicious refusal to comply with its
economic provisions, shall not be considered unfair labor practice and shall not be
strikeable. No strike or lockout may be declared on grounds involving inter-union and
intra-union disputes or on issues brought to voluntary or compulsory arbitration.
xxx xxx xxx
Section 3. Notice of strike or lockout.- In cases of bargaining deadlocks, a notice of
strike or lockout shall be filed with the regional branch of the Board at least thirty (30)
days before the intended date thereof, a copy of said notice having been served on
the other party concerned. x x x"
"Section 6. Conciliation. - Upon receipt of the notice, the regional branch of the
Board shall exert all efforts at mediation and conciliation to enable the parties to settle
the dispute amicably. The regional branch of the Board may, upon consultation,
recommend to the parties to submit the dispute to voluntary arbitration.
During the proceedings, the parties shall not do any act which may disrupt or impede
the early settlement of the dispute. They are obliged as part of the duty to bargain
called by the regional branch of the board. The regional branch of the Board shall
have the power to issue subpoenas requiring the attendance of the parties to the
meetings. xxx"
CASE AT BAR: the strike staged by FPWU-NLU was illegal for want of any legal basis.
The purpose of the strike, as shown in the conciliation conference, was to pressure P
to: (1) include the salary of the strikers the P3.00 wage increase, and (2) compute their
backwages covering the period from December 1, 1980 to February 28, 1986, including
vacation leave and sick leave.
The alleged union busting was not substantiated and the supposed non-
implementation of the CBA was groundless since at the time the notice of strike was
filed and actually struck, the CBA was subject of a pending application for a writ of
execution filed by the union which was granted on April 4, 1986 by the Labor Arbiter.
The strike staged by FPWU-NLU was baseless since it was still pre-mature then
for the union to insist on the implementation of the CBA since it was pending a
writ of execution.
The union also failed to serve P a company of the notice of strike which is
a clear violation of S3. The constitutional precepts of due process mandate that the
other party be notified of the adverse action of the opposing party. So also, the same
Section provides for a mandatory thirty (30) day cooling-off period which the
union ignored when it struck on March 3, 1986, before the 30th day from the time
the notice of strike was filed on February 10, 1986.
 the same strike blatantly disregarded the prohibition on the doing of
any act which may impede or disrupt the conciliation proceedings,
when the union staged the strike in the early morning of March 3,
1986, the very same day the conciliation conference was scheduled
by the former Ministry of Labor.
Relationship of mother and local union
P’s argument: liability should be borne by NLU-TUCP and its national president, Atty.
Lerum for direct participation and aiding the illegal strike. It is argued that FPWU-NLU
is a mere agent of respondent NLU-TUCP, because FPWU-NLU, is not registered as
a local unit or chapter but directly affiliated with the latter and therefore, could not
have acted on its own. It cannot act as a principal of NLU-TCP since it is not a
legitimate labor organization.
Liberty Cotton Mills Workers Union v. Liberty Cotton Mills, Inc.: the Court held that the
mother union, acting for and in behalf of its affiliate, had the status of an agent
while the local union remained the basic unit of the association, free to serve the
common interest of all its members subject only to the restraints imposed by the
constitution and by-laws of the association.
 Mother federation is a mere agent while the local/chapter union is a
principal
CASE AT BAR: FPWU is the principal and basic unit of the association. The
requirement laid down in the Progressive Development case, that the local union
must be a legitimate labor organization, pertains to the conditions before a union may
file a petition for certification election and to be certified as sole and exclusive
bargaining agent. FPWU-NLU is the sole and exclusive bargaining representative of
the rank and file employees of petitioner company. The union's status as a
legitimate labor organization is therefore of no moment in the resolution of the
controversy here. As the local union, it is the principal; that which staged the
illegal strike and the one responsible for the resulting damages allegedly
sustained by petitioner company.

P is estopped from attacking FPWU’s status which the company voluntarily

recognized. As early as 1981, when the collective bargaining agreement sought to be
implemented by the union was entered into, it was already bargaining representative
of the employees concerned. It is not, therefore, true that it was respondent NLU-
TUCP which formed FPWU. At most, the entry into the picture of the private
respondent on March 23, 1983, merely affirmed the status of FPWU as the
recognized bargaining representative of the rank and file employees of petitioner
company.

FPWU is directly and primarily responsible for the damages caused by the
illegal strike. . Being just an agent, the notice of strike filed by Atty. Eulogio Lerum, the
national president of NLU-TUCP, is deemed to have been filed by its principal, the
FPWU-NLU. Having thus dismissed the claim for damages against the principal,
FPWU-NLU, the action for damages against its agent, respondent NLU-TUCP, and
Atty. Lerum, has no more leg to stand on and should also be dismissed.

DISMISSED.

RSAT